Stephen Pihlaja is Reader in Stylistics at Newman University, Birmingham, UK, where he teaches and researches language use around religious interaction. Originally from Chicago, he has previously lived and taught in Japan and Malaysia.
'Pihlaja's study is valuable to sociologists of religion for his insights into atheism and modes of proselytism, and his in-depth qualitative study of discourse dynamics makes a compelling argument to sociolinguists that 'social media offers a uniquely transparent, public, and immediate view of how people talk about religion'.' Michael Munnik, Discourse & Communication